From the managing editor

TRAVELBULLETIN was born ten years ago, with founders Eddie Raggett and Ian Mcmahon building it into Australia’s most respected travel trade magazine. Now they have passed the baton on, and we are proud to bring you this launch edition which continues travelbulletin’s unrivalled reputation as the industry’s in-depth journal of record and analysis. We believe that with travelbulletin now part of the Travel Daily family we are ideally positioned to deliver everything the industry needs – daily electronic news updates complemented by monthly insights into major trends, destination updates and industry conference features. Since taking over it’s been an exciting time. The look and feel of travelbulletin has been tweaked, and it’s been a busy few weeks getting this launch edition together with a fresh new design and convenient A4 size. There’s also an updated travelbulletin website and we’re dipping the publication’s toe into social media too. What’s unchanged is our steadfast commitment to honest, unbiased reporting and insight into the rapidly changing travel sector. In this issue’s cover story Ian Mcmahon, who will be continuing as travelbulletin’s Editor at Large, looks into the fine print of the annual reports of some of the industry’s biggest companies and lifts the lid on what the bigwigs are paid. travelbulletin’s new co-ordinating editor, Louise Wallace, has covered the latest topics in agency groups, cruise, technology and more, and we also have some great destination features – including travel consultant selling tips – from travelbulletin’s stable of respected writers. travelbulletin’s regular contributors continue, with columns from AFTA ceo Jayson Westbury, an update from TTF acting ceo Trent Zimmerman and we have also added a regular comment piece from CLIA general manager Brett Jardine in our new cruise pages. We also have some exciting new features including ‘industry in focus’ photos, some fun on the Last Word inside back page and of course a fabulous opportunity to win a business class trip for two to Thailand, courtesy of Thai Airways International and Sofitel. The new travelbulletin team looks forward to a bright future, and we thank you for your ongoing support. We would welcome any suggestions or contributions so please let us know what you think!